Fuels Reduction/Restoration Archives - Southwest Fire Science Consortium

Water flowing through the Lower Gila River with scattered trees and bare earth.

Tamarisk Removal along the Lower Gila River – COMING SOON!

by swfscVideos March 4, 2024April 18, 2024No Comments

Part of the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and AZ Wildfire Initiative‘s SW Fire Stories wildfire documentary video series, this video raises awareness about wildfire on the Lower Gila River and surrounding communities and the work being done by the Lower Gila River Collaborative to reduce wildfire risk and to inform people about the habitat and importance of restoration on the Lower …

Sonoran desert post-fire with charred saguaro

Sonoran Fuel Breaks Field Trip – February 2024

by swfscField Trips January 24, 2024February 12, 2024No Comments

This field trip will delve into the critical issues of wildfire risk and invasive species management in the Sonoran Desert near Phoenix, AZ. We will hear from public, state, and private land managers who have been conducting wildfire operations, prescribed burns, thinning, and invasive plant removal to protect the Sonoran Desert. Field Trip Objectives: Who …

Fuels Reduction and Restoration

by swfscLearn November 13, 2023November 13, 2023No Comments

Sonoran desert view showing saguaro cactus surrounded by tall buffelgrass

Monitoring and Removal of Invasive Grasses for Restoration of Dry Desert Systems

by swfscWebinars July 24, 2023February 8, 2024No Comments

IN A NUTSHELLA panel of researchers and managers discusses the impact of non-native invasive grasses on dry desert systems and various methods to remove, monitor, or slow their spread. The fire regime of dry desert systems, such as the Sonoran, historically consisted of infrequent, low intensity, size-limited fires. Native grasses and other vegetation, which grow …

Series of 4 images that show a range of forest health.

Wildfire and Climate Change Adaptation

by swfscWebinars January 10, 2023February 12, 2024No Comments

IN A NUTSHELL Experts tell the story of forest change since colonization, and share insights and answer questions about how we might steward a legacy of forest change and mitigate climate change impacts. Description: Climate change and wildfires pose an existential threat to western North American forests, a reality which necessitates place-based strategies to increase …

2021 SW Wildfire Season Overview

by swfscSouthwestern Wildfire Season Overview November 29, 2022February 12, 2024No Comments

This report is the 9th in a series of annual overviews available from the Southwest Fire Science Consortium and the Ecological Restoration Institute. The goal of this overview is to provide a concise summary of the fire season and to facilitate comparison with past fires and fire seasons.

Nighttime Fire

by swfscWebinars October 18, 2022February 12, 2024No Comments

Presenter: Patrick H Freeborn, PhD, Research Physical Scientist with the USDA Rocky Mountain Research Station Date: December 6, 2022 at 12 MDT Wildfire activity typically subsides sufficiently enough at night to provide firefighters with opportunities to rest and recover. However, nighttime fire operations are not uncommon. Whilst favorable conditions may enable better fire management progress, …

Post-Fire Logging

by swfscWebinars August 1, 2022February 12, 2024No Comments

Presenter: Camille Stevens-Rumann, Assistant Professor of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship at Colorado State University Date: August 31, 2022 at 12:00pm AZ / 1:00pm MDT Following a wildfire, successful tree regeneration is mediated by multiple factors, from the microsite to landscape scale. This presentation demonstrates the importance of microsite conditions such as soil moisture and temperature …

Protecting Denver’s Water Supply

by swfscWebinars May 11, 2022February 12, 2024No Comments

Presenter: Dr. Kelly Jones, Associate Professor of Ecological Economics with Colorado State University, Human Dimensions of Natural ResourcesDate: June 22, 2022 11am AZ/12pm MDT Collaboratively-funded fuel treatments are becoming more common in the western U.S. to proactively address wildfire impacts. Water utilities often play an important role in these collaborations and are motivated by the …

Surface fire showing rising smoke among trees, coming up from a small ground fire. The ground is a mix of charred earth and grass.

Managed Wildfire

by swfscWebinars March 8, 2022February 12, 2024No Comments

Date: March 23, 2022 11am AZ/12pm Mountain DaylightPresenters: Stephen D. Fillmore, PhD Student, University of Idaho, Dr. Sarah McCaffrey To improve understanding of the managed wildfire decision-making process on federal lands (USA), we conducted a mixed methods review of the existing literature. The review was published in September, 2021 in the journal Fire. The review …